Okay, I thought I'd post this; I have ben really working on a lot of different stuff lately, all of it revolving around being able to spontaneously "compose" (Improvise) on the fly. I was jamming out a bit earlier after I finished my day's practicing, and I thought I had a sort of 'idea' that seemed presentable enough. I played (versions of) it better before I videotaped it, but this is, I think, representative of a step forward as far as being able to express myself on the instrument; I created it on the fly, even though it's similar to what I played before I hit "record" it is indeed a spontaneous creation. However, I definitely hear what I am practicing creeping into what I play. Fun stuff.

Yes there's a long ways to go yet, and yes, there's a few moments where I am caught trying to make musical decisions and it seems I'm running low on RAM. All good, I'm just getting started.

A few different ideas at work, but the long and the short of it is that the Stick is super fun to play now, starting to really make sense.

Good to see you're having fun and rocking it out! It's great to see your progress along the way. This is how I roll pretty much all the time, just noodle, noodle, noodle.

What's that, blind man in the corner, with your strange 10-stringed walking Stick? What did you say? Oh, "Your Noodle-Fu is strong, Grasshopper!"

But why is your Stick noodling here in the Teflon section?

Hey, thanks for checking it out! It's a step in the direction I want to be in, plus it was fun to just spontaneously "create" even if it's not too polished or perfect. Lol that blind man in the corner is my friend "instinct", he's the little voice that is always right that provides guidance...

Why in Teflon? Oh that's 'cause this section is like the Wild West of this site, perfect place for a non-Stickist who plays Stick, to share stuff.

Hey Scott, you're right: I can see the direction you're moving towards - really cool - I think it's time we get to see you play some Bach I know it wouldn't be improvisation but... I can almost see your face holding that kind of power in your fingertips. Anyway I like it! Plus, happy to hear you're having fun: it all starts and ends with that: ultimate goal!

Hey Scott, you're right: I can see the direction you're moving towards - really cool - I think it's time we get to see you play some Bach I know it wouldn't be improvisation but... I can almost see your face holding that kind of power in your fingertips. Anyway I like it! Plus, happy to hear you're having fun: it all starts and ends with that: ultimate goal!

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Thanks for checking it out, Rodrigo!

I have 3 things I practice on Stick these days, 1) is an hour (minimum) of reading. And while a lot of the stuff I am reading is stuff I myself made up, I always go over the Bach Two Part Inventions. They are slow going to be sure, but I can make it through them. If I have time this weekend I will try to refine the first one a bit; it's the one I am most comfortable with as I have tried it in pretty much every tuning on the Stick, and even guitar and keyboard. 2) is 10-15 minutes of some physically challenging thing to do. For instance going from Dom7 to Dom7sus4 is a move that's still tricky in the RH... So yeah, a "move" of some kind 3) I read down a simple chart from one of my fake books once, then try and improvise over an aspect/tonal center from that tune. Also very slow tempo-wise, but it's fun. I can do a lot of covers now, and the time it takes to learn a song has been dramatically reduced

I try really hard to pay attention to what I am playing, and be consciously aware as best I can, of what notes I am playing. When I am trying to "improvise" especially, I make it a point to kind of "preplan" what I am doing next as I physically execute the previous idea. It definitely feels like progress, which is a lot more fun than spinning one's wheels.

I enjoyed that. I like the look and the sound. Now here comes my main point, which I hope you will take as an encouragement to try some new things, and not as a criticism of this particular recording, which, as I said, I enjoyed.

Scales as rote elements easily become way too big a part of our musical vocabulary. There are so many elements that are NOT as easy to play, so when we are exploring keys we tend to eschew them in favor of the easy bits, like running up and down scales.

I see no repeated notes and no movement across the frets (4th and 7ths) in the improvisation of so many Stick players. To my ear it's like leaving out parts of speech, or using the same sentence structure... all the time...

In other words...Charlie Parker also had a tongue, and he wasn't afraid to use it....

The reason I say this is that ALL of the elements of melodic lines should be equally easy for you to execute:

If we don't incorporate all of these in our "recreational playing", then our tendency is to favor one over the others as a matter of habit. This will slow us way down as we try to learn music in general. You can't play Jingle Bells (or Mr PC, for that matter) unless you know how to play repeated notes, integrated into a phrase, and not just for their own sake.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you can incorporate this idea into your practice routines. I think it will pay off bigtime down the road..

_________________Happy tapping, gregplease don't PM me, If you want to get in touch use email stickist@aol.com

I enjoyed that. I like the look and the sound. Now here comes my main point, which I hope you will take as an encouragement to try some new things, and not as a criticism of this particular recording, which, as I said, I enjoyed.

Scales as rote elements easily become way too big a part of our musical vocabulary. There are so many elements that are NOT as easy to play, so when we are exploring keys we tend to eschew them in favor of the easy bits, like running up and down scales.

I see no repeated notes and no movement across the frets (4th and 7ths) in the improvisation of so many Stick players. To my ear it's like leaving out parts of speech, or using the same sentence structure... all the time...

In other words...Charlie Parker also had a tongue, and he wasn't afraid to use it....

The reason I say this is that ALL of the elements of melodic lines should be equally easy for you to execute:

If we don't incorporate all of these in our "recreational playing", then our tendency is to favor one over the others as a matter of habit. This will slow us way down as we try to learn music in general. You can't play Jingle Bells (or Mr PC, for that matter) unless you know how to play repeated notes, integrated into a phrase, and not just for their own sake.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you can incorporate this idea into your practice routines. I think it will pay off bigtime down the road..

Great stuff Greg!

Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:24 pm

Jayesskerr

Elite Contributor

Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 9:43 amPosts: 2752

Re: Chapman Stick Improv Progress Video

greg wrote:

Hi Scott,

I enjoyed that. I like the look and the sound. Now here comes my main point, which I hope you will take as an encouragement to try some new things, and not as a criticism of this particular recording, which, as I said, I enjoyed.

Scales as rote elements easily become way too big a part of our musical vocabulary. There are so many elements that are NOT as easy to play, so when we are exploring keys we tend to eschew them in favor of the easy bits, like running up and down scales.

I see no repeated notes and no movement across the frets (4th and 7ths) in the improvisation of so many Stick players. To my ear it's like leaving out parts of speech, or using the same sentence structure... all the time...

In other words...Charlie Parker also had a tongue, and he wasn't afraid to use it....

The reason I say this is that ALL of the elements of melodic lines should be equally easy for you to execute:

If we don't incorporate all of these in our "recreational playing", then our tendency is to favor one over the others as a matter of habit. This will slow us way down as we try to learn music in general. You can't play Jingle Bells (or Mr PC, for that matter) unless you know how to play repeated notes, integrated into a phrase, and not just for their own sake.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you can incorporate this idea into your practice routines. I think it will pay off bigtime down the road..

Hey, Greg thanks for taking a sec to take a watch/listen, and comment - it's much appreciated. You touch on important topics that I will be dealing with as I progress, excellent and well organized points. Getting there, thanks again.

Hey, Greg thanks for taking a sec to take a watch/listen, and comment - it's much appreciated. You touch on important topics that I will be dealing with as I progress, excellent and well organized points. Getting there, thanks again.

It takes a village, right?

Scott, you're very welcome. Thanks or being open to my suggestions...

_________________Happy tapping, gregplease don't PM me, If you want to get in touch use email stickist@aol.com

Hey, Greg thanks for taking a sec to take a watch/listen, and comment - it's much appreciated. You touch on important topics that I will be dealing with as I progress, excellent and well organized points. Getting there, thanks again.

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